Utah Dually

Well I put new tires and shocks on the old girl and that did wonders for her. I am going to have the alignment checked just to make sure everything is correct. Thanks for all the suggestions.

I do get that, but my tongue weight is more than that and it doesn't cause it to wobble, which seems strange to me. Remember this is a 2 wheel drive 3500. One thing I forgot to mention is that when turning left at highway speeds it wants to kinda hunt and peck, but turning right seems normal. Yes this is truly "death wobble" it is scary as all get out and you are on the verge of losing complete control. I have had mechanics check under the truck for anything loose and they don't seem to think there is anything wrong. I replaced the tires today, which some people say can be an issue, so we shall see.

The truck has 82K on the clock – All of a sudden I am experiencing a death wobble around 40 to 50 MPH only under certain conditions. The truck has a Trick Flow tank in the bed. If I put 150 LBS close to the tail gate and hit a small bump it will go into the shakes. If I move the load over the wheels nothing. If I hook my trailer up (10,000 lbs), nothing. My mechanic has replaced a part on the pitman arm and added a steering stabilizer and said the ball joints are fine. I went to a respected alignment shop yesterday and the response was “ Yep that’s a Dodge alright”. I am going to put new tires on the front today since that is a suggested fix but no one seems to be able to tell me for sure they can fix it. Any suggestions on which path I should pursue next? I love this truck and plan to die with it.

I use my truck to tow my race car and you can imagine I need to spend some nights in a hotel or motel when traveling. It is getting to where thieves are stealing trucks and race rigs like they are going out of style. What is the best way to disable your truck so they can't steal it? I saw a video on Youtube where a guy took a fuel pump fuse, blew it up, then when parking his car would put the blown fuse in place of the good one. Would something like this work on our trucks without throwing a bunch of codes? Any ideas would be helpful.

Thanks for the input guys. Since I have the lift pump, exhaust, and 60HP injectors on my truck I think I will give the EZ a try. I baby this thing when towing anyway. I never let the exhaust temp get over 1100. It might for a moment, but I catch it and back off. I would like better throttle response around town... Maybe I can find a used one... Anyone have one for sale?

I love reading this stuff but I have to admit the more I read about putting a tuner on my truck the more confused I get. I would like to put one on to improve fuel mileage around town and power when towing. I don’t want to hurt the truck, but it would be nice to have a little more. Trying to decide which way to go is madding. Not to mention these things are quite the investment in dollars and time messing with them. I don’t like the idea of a Smarty just because I don’t want something I have to do downloads on. That seems like a pain to me. Someday I will make my mind up I guess….

You are right, there was a hole in the body of the motor and the vacuum line was heat checked. It is good to be driving the truck after a long hard winter.... You forget just how much fun these trucks are to drive.... I just have fun driving it.

Since I put my truck up for the winter so I don’t get salt on it I just got around to digging it out and looking into the cruise problem. It seems like it is the Servo under the battery tray. It is all dirty and corroded. Didn’t even know it was under there….

Funny you say that because I was talking to a friend that use to be a Dodge mechanic and he said the same thing. He also said that the brake switch could be a two sided switch, one for the brake and one for the cruise, so either way I am going to check that out this weekend before I try the clock spring. I hope that is it. I am not sure I want to tackle the clock spring thing...

Ok, I am assuming the "Clock Spring" Is some kind of connector? I have no idea what or where the Clock Spring might be. I might add I do appreciate everyone's help with this. Thanks...

I looked last night and there was no actuator under the drivers side battery box. So I guess I have a fly by wire and an ECM issue. Is this something that can be diagonsed by the dealer, or someone else with a computer hook up?

Yes, my HVAC controls are working. I was using both the AC and Heater on this trip. It was getting cold in Boise last weekend. Thanks for the location. That will save me some time.

Will do. Thanks... At least I have a starting point now... Thanks again.

Loaded up to go to a race and hit the cruise button, the indicator comes on in the dash, but no cruise. Any ideas where to start?

I do have the factory joy stick, however the guy I got the truck from had Dodge put tow mirrors on, and they weren't powered. I call Dodge and they didn't have a powered application... I guess I will look at aftermarket mirrors. Thanks...

On my 2001 I have factory tow mirrors, but they are not power or heated. My truck came with regular power mirrors. Are there any good tow replacements that will work with the factory power?

Well I got the Hopkins 50002 back up camera. Which is not made for our trucks, but can be made to fit with a little work. The wiring harness on the Hopkins comes with a dual sided plug that fits between the trailer outlet plug and the truck trailer pig tail. However, the plug it comes with does not fit our Gen 2 Dodges. Which is really no big deal. The only thing the plug is picking up is power from the back up lights and ground. So you cut the plug off, which leaves a hot wire and ground to be spliced into the existing trailer pig tail. The Purple/Black wire is the power for the back up lights, and there are two black ground wires in the harness. Both are very easy to access. The camera and distance sensors come mounted to a replacement license plate holder. That probably is a direct replacement for newer Dodges and Chevys, but our license plate holder is a built in part of the plastic piece that fits behind the bumper and is not removable. No big deal. The replacement part mounts with the top two holes, our Dodges mount the license plate with the bottom two holes. So you have to mark and drill two top mounting holes for the new holder. Our license plate holder has some cleats at the top you slip the license plate under and secure it with the bottom two bolts. I didn’t want to grind those off because some day I might want to take this device off. Again, no big deal, I just aligned the top of the new plate with the top of the existing piece, drilled the two holes on the top, which goes thru the metal support piece behind the plastic, and mounted the new plate on top of the cleats. Worked out well. You also have to drill a 11/32 hole thru the back to thread the camera cable thru. Can of corn. I wired the power and ground to the trailer pig tail with a couple of spade connectors so I could unplug it easily if I ever want to. Turned the key on with the truck in reverse and the camera came alive. It has a couple of different modes, a wide view for backing up, and another Hitch Mode which gives you a very close line of reference for the hitch, and puts the view downward somewhat. Way more work than hooking it up to a Chevy, but it fits our trucks and works well. Can’t believe how easy it is to hook up the trailer now. I nailed it the first time. Well worth the effort and the money wasn’t that bad. More work hooking it up than the money it cost. http://www.etrailer.com/Backup-Cameras-and-Alarms/Hopkins/HM50002.html

When I started reading this I thought I could win it... 78,651 I have people all the time wanting to buy my truck because it is so low miles...

I am under the assumption that the tail lights aren't LED stock for a 2001. Are there any good replacements out there that anyone would recommend?

I have an industrial aluminum topper on my truck, so hooking up to the hitch can be problematic when you are by yourself, Which is most of the time for me since i only tow my race car and I am a one man gang. i can't see behind my truck at all. If I am going to back my trailer into a tight spot I always get a spotter, or I just don't try it unless I can get 90 degrees to the slot which lets you see both sides backing up. Having to turn into a tight spot without a spotter is asking for trouble in my mind. I ordered the Hopkins HM50002 rig which is designed to be a hitch back up camera. I will let everyone know how it works if you are interested.

Thank you a bunch.... I guess most of these cameras that are built to plug in between your pig tail and trailer plug don't match up to our older Dodges. So the wired ones are not plug and play so to speak. But the only thing you really need to do is to cut off the adapter plug, then wire in the red or power wire to the back up light wire in the pig tail and the black wire to ground. Not to bad, only one splice. I guess some people do wire the power into a switch so they can turn on the back up camera any time they want. Not a bad idea if you are towing long distances. I learned a lot about cameras in a short time. Thanks a lot for the wiring diagram Mopar Man.... What would we all do without your help.....

Thanks Guys.... Does anyone know the color of the wire in the trailer pig tail for reverse power?

Good to hear the wireless works well.... Everything I seem to read says to stay away from the wireless on a truck.... I am glad it works for you... thanks a bunch. Wireless would make it easier to install that's for sure...

Looking for a wired back up camera that fits the 2001 3500 extended cab. The Hopkins 50002 system looks good and has good reviews, but they don't say it will fit the 2001. It is just a license plate camera. Anyone have any experience with these, or have a better suggestion. I just want to use it to make hooking up the trailer easier.

The best way I have found to fill the line from the gauge to the isolator is to use my vacuum break bleeder. I disconnect the line at the isolator and the gauge, I hook up a tube from the gauge end into a jar full of antifreeze, hook up the bleeder to the isolator end of the tube and suck it full. I quickly pull the bleeder off the gauge tube, hook it back up to the isolator, then go do the same thing to the gauge. It gets the tube totally full of fluid. Easy, and from that point on it will stay full because there is no air in it.